2009 Tour of Qatar Results - Stage 4

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2009 Tour of Qatar Results - Stage 4

Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia-Highroad) captured his first victory of the 2009 season on Wednesday when he outsprinted the field on stage four of the Tour of Qatar.

Cavendish took a convincing win in a stage where strong winds and splits in the bunch meant teamwork played a crucial part in his victory.

“Today was the kind of day that had to finish in a win,” Cavendish said afterwards. “My team did a great job as a unit, working hard in the early part of the stage, getting Michael [Barry] in the break, then doing a brilliant job to get me up there for the final sprint.”

“There were five of us in the front group early on, then four, then three in the last part, but everybody did a perfect job all day. The conditions were very tough, but that’s Qatar, it’s always windy here. There are two more stages to come and hopefully I’ll be able to do well in those ones, too. I’ve been unfortunate in the finishes earlier on in this race, now it seems my luck has turned.”

On Wednesday Cavendish outpowered German Heinrich Haussler and Belgian race leader Tom Boonen in a long sprint in the northern fishing town of Madinat Al Shamal. After his victory, Cavendish is now lying ninth overall.

In a dramatic day’s racing, cross-winds shattered the peloton on the long exposed ride from Doha’s Old Souq across the Qatar desert. But Cavendish and his Columbia-Highroad team-mates were never far from the front.

Wednesday’s win was even more satisfying for Cavendish because in the first two sprint stages bad luck had kept Cavendish out of contention. Tuesday’s stage was particularly frustrating for the British rider. A puncture less than 1500 metres from the line wrecked Cavendish’s chances when he was on the point of accelerating for the finish.

The Tour of Qatar ends on Friday, when Cavendish heads directly to the United States to join his team at a training camp leading up to the 2009 Amgen Tour of California.